Magnetic picture toy



y 1962 s. LANG 3,032,926

MAGNETIC. PICTURE TOY Filed March 25, 1960 FIG. .:L.

INVENTOR. SIDNEY LANG,

,4 TTOENE Y United States Patent 3,032,926 MAGNETIC PICTURE TOY SidneyLang, Jericho, N.Y., assignor to Multiple Products Corporation, NewYork, N.Y. Filed Mar. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 17,663 6 Claims. (Cl. 46-239)This invention relates to picture drawing toys and more particularly tothe type of toy wherein magnetic particles may be moved by means of amagnet so as to supplement printed pictures by adding simulated hairpieces or other pictorial effects.

I am aware that there are prior art devices wherein particles ofpowdered iron are trapped within transparent plastic blisters, having apicture visible at the bottom of the blister. Thus, by use of a smallmagnet, a child can guide or move batches of iron particles on to thepicture to effect supplemental ornamentation, such as hair, beards, etc.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic picturetoy of the kind described wherein a plurality of pictures arepermanently a part of the toy and wherein selection of any picture to beutilized may be readily accomplished.

It is another object of the invention to provide a rugged, compactdevice having a slidable blister element for effecting a pictureselection.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a device thathas storage means for carrying a magnetic element used in play whereinsaid element cannot be lost during transit nor between periods of playif stored within the storage means provided.

Yet another object of the device is to provide a construction readilyapprehended by a child both as to operation and picture selection.

Briefly, my invention comprises the combination of a panel on which aplurality of different pictures are printed, and a transparent plasticblister arranged to slide on the panel so as to overlie any selectedpicture. Within the blister a quantity of magnetic iron particles arepermanently sealed so as to be transported by sliding of the blisterwith respect to the panel. The construction and arrangement is such thatthe panel is laminated of cardboard having folded over flaps at the endswhich form abutment edges to prevent, for all practical purposes,removal of the blister from the panel. The blister is secured to thepanel by folded flanges of the plastic material which slidably gripparallel edges of the panel. Further advantage is taken of one of thefolded flaps of the cardboard panel by locating a small plastic housingin place therein in which housing a magnetic element is stored. Suchelement is readily removable by sliding the housing away from the panel,such housing being replaceable on the panel with the magneticarrangement in place therein for storage.

A detailed description of my invention will now be given in conjunctionwith the appended drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the toy.

FIGURE 2 is a section through 2-2 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a section through 33 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawing, the invention comprises a panel which islaminated of at least two pieces of cardboard or fiberboard. Thus, afront section 14 is laminated to a rear section 18, which rear sectionis folded over at the top to effect a flap 22, and folded at the bottomto form a flap 25. The flap may be glued in position on the respectivemargin on the panel. For convenience of assembly, eyelets 28 may beutilized to hold flap 22 rigidly in place.

The front section 14 has a series of pictures printed thereon, saidpictures extending transversely of the panel and arranged in pairs fromtop to bottom, as is apparent from FIGURE 1.

A blister 30 is formed of two sheets of clear plastic sheet material.Thus, an outer piece 33 may be vacuum molded to effect a flat,rectangular cavity bounded by an upper and lower flange 36 and 39,respectively, and side flanges 42 and 45. As noted in FIGURE 3, the sideflanges are elongated and formed into channels which slidably grip theside edges 48 and 51, respectively, of the laminated panel. Such channelforming may be effected by heating and bending in the usual manner inwhich sheet plastics are formed.

The blister 30 is closed at its bottom by an inner, rectangular sheet oftransparent plastic 54 cemented around its border to the several flanges42, 45, 48 and 51. A small, centrally located dimple 58 is formed fromthe front sheet of the blister to lend support for the rather largearea, the dimple abutting the inner sheet. Intermediate the two plasticsheets is a quantity or" iron powder particles 62.

From the description thus far given, it will be apparent that blister 30may be slid in either direction longitudinally on panel 1t to registerwith any printed picture pair. Thus, as seen in FIGURE 1, the blistercovers a picture area whereon is printed two pictures of the samesubject. However, the lefthand picture shows a face ornamented witheyebrows, cigar butt, etc., while the righthand picture shows the sameface lacking ornament. Thus, the lefthand picture serves as a guide to achild, suggesting portions for placing magnetic particles for simulatingpicture elements on the righthand picture. The other picture panels areprepared in a like manner, as will be noted.

The lower flap 25 folded upwardly against section 14 forms an edge 65engageable by edge 68 of the composite blister to thus prevent theblister from sliding off panel 10 at the lower edge. In a similarmanner, the foldedover top flap 22 effects an edge 72 abuttable withblister edge 75. Thus, the blister is locked on the panel, beingimpossible, or at least exceedingly diflicult, to remove therefrom.

In conjunction with the toy there is furnished a magnetic element 79comprising a short, plastic tube 80 which carries at one end a smallmagnet rod 83, it being understood that such magnetic element or tool isused for controlling movement of the magnetic particles by being slidover the exterior surface of blister 30. In order to provide storage forthe magnetic element, a formed plastic housing 86 is provided havingflanges 88 and 91. The cardboard lamination 14 is provided with a slotcutout 93 which extends to its righthand edge, which slot is overlappedat its long sides by edges 89 of a cutout slot 94 in the flap 22. Thecutout 94, however, does not go completely to the edge of the flap, butis blocked by a tab 96 joined by perforate lines such as 98 to flap 22.Thus, it will be apparent that the housing 86 may be locked in positionwithin the cutout 94 by virtue of the flanges 88, 91 going underneaththe overlapping edges 89 of flap 22. However, tab 96 is readilyremovable by virtue of its perforate juncture lines, and thushousing'86, along with the magnetic element, slidably removed.

The tab 96, of course, remains in place for shipment of the toy in bulk.Once removed, however, the housing 86 may be readily slid back and forthin order to release the magnetic element for use or replace it forstorage, as desired.

Having thus described my invention, I am aware that changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit thereof and, accordingly, I do notseek to be limited to the precise illustration given, except as setforth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a transparent closed container having magneticparticles therein, a base having a plurality of pictures thereon, saidbase having a pair of parallel side edges, said container having sidechannels slidably engaging said edges for effecting secnrement of saidcontainer and selective sliding thereof from one picture to another, anda magnet means for positioning said particles relative to a selectedpicture.

2. A toy as set forth in claim 1, said container comprising a generallyrectangular, transparent blister bounded by flanges, two of said flangesbeing curled to effect said channels.

3. A toy as set forth in claim 2, the bottom of said containercontiguous with said base being a transparent panel closing said blisterand having edges cemented to said flanges.

4. A toy comprising a transparent enclosure disposed on a base withmagnetic particles in said enclosure, a magnetic tool for attractingsaid particles for positioning thereof in selected areas of said base,and means for storing said tool comprising a slot in said base extendingto and opening at an edge thereof, a shell-like container having closedends disposed, in said slot and frictionally slidably held therein, andmovable out of said slot at said edge, said magnetic tool being housedin said container.

5. A toy as set forth in claim 4, said base comprising a pair oflaminations, said slot being cut through one of said laminations; saidcontainer having flanges disposed intermediate said laminations toeffect said frictional holding and slidable with respect thereto.

6. A toy as set forth in claim 5, a portion of said slot adjacent saidedge being temporarily closed by a removable tab extending thereacrossand having perforate connection to the edges thereof, said containerbeing blocked from removal from said slot while said tab is in positionacross said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,259,297 Russell Mar. 12, 1918 2,530,013 Hanback Nov. 14, 19502,672,706 Hayley Mar. 23, 1954 2,853,830 Herzog Sept. 30, 1958

